Articles by Section - LOCAL

This week, the Georgia General Assembly reconvened after a week-long recess to analyze the Governor's budget recommendations. Having only completed eight days of the 2015 session, business is quickly starting to pick-up as lawmakers continue to file legislation and begin the committee process.

Last night 11 Alive News aired a report on the fees paid to the Newton County Attorney, Tommy Craig. Many questions were raised by the reporter as well as citizens who were interviewed. Many have questioned why the Board agreed to reappoint Mr. Craig as County Attorney. Prior to the vote, I made the following statement which was made part of the official minutes of the meeting.

It's a relatively calm morning at the Newton County 911 center. Nate Stykes is giving instructions to a mother whose child is having a seizure. A few feet away, Love Frazier assures an elderly individual with chest pains that an ambulance is on the way.

The 11Alive report from "The Investigators" on Newton County Attorney Tommy Craig, and the pay he received in 2014, brought a lot of attention to the Board of Commissioners this week, a lot of which was negative from the talk around the county and social media responses.

Some local residents expressed anger at County Attorney Tommy Craig and the Board of Commissioners Friday following a Channel 11 news report on Craig's longstanding tax problems and his $1.1 million income from the county last year. Watch it here.

Time for a fix-up: Peachtree Construction Services President Tom Smithdeal, Newborn Mayor Roger Sheridan and project engineer Michael Clark stand in front of the Newborn Community Center after signing a contract to begin renovations.

It has been almost four months since a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan nearly made Staff Sgt. Marty Brownlee someone remembered on Memorial Day rather than someone observing it.

Brownlee's National Guard unit had been assigned to a desolate border outpost in November 2009. On Feb. 10 Brownlee and his comrades were relaxing in their bunks watching a movie after an all-day training session with the Afghan National Police. He had just hung up with his wife, Autumn, when a large explosion blew the metal door of the barracks into tiny missiles mixed with dirt, concrete and glass.

Norfolk Southern is no longer in the process of abandoning its 14.9 mile portion of rail line running from Porterdale to Newborn, but has instead applied to discontinue service, said Director of Public Relations Susan Terpay.

"The rules around abandoning and discontinuing are different … If we apply for discontinuance we may not have to maintain it [the line], however, the tracks stay there. If we resume service we can still use it. If we abandon it we will have forfeited all opportunity to use the tracks," she said in a phone interview.

The 78-hour Memorial Day holiday travel period begins this Friday evening and the Georgia State Patrol will be watching for impaired drivers and other traffic violations that could potentially cause a traffic crash. The holiday period begins at 6 p.m. Friday and ends Memorial Day.

Local agriculture experts say until Americans are willing to spend more money, they'll have to continue to make do with less healthy and less flavorful food and small to medium locally owned farms will continue to vanish.

Aiden and Brayden Coglianese, identical twins, were born at Rockdale Medical Center on Feb. 6. Their mother, 20-year-old, Kristina Coglianese previously had been ordered to bed rest because of an early labor scare.

Around 500 City of Covington electric customers and 120 Georgia Power customers in the Alcovy Road area lost power during an approximately hour window after 11 a.m. Area businesses, including restaurants and hotels were affected as well as some of the industries in Lochridge Industrial Park.

When Stephanie Davis moved to Orchard Park in 2006 she had been recently married and was a looking for that special place to live, to start a family, to start a new life. When she moved, the promise of a unique community was all around her; new homes were still being built along her street. The first phase of the anticipated traditional neighborhood development was firmly underway.

Law enforcement officers and members of the Covington/Newton County SWAT Team participated in the Active Shooter program last week, an annual event that brings authorities together to teach them how to respond in a crisis situation.

The Board of Commissioners held their final budget work session Monday night, and residents and county department heads used the opportunity to let the board know they opposed the proposed $5.25 million of cuts to this year's budget.